Water Woes Continue

Nearly four thousand people in Letcher County still can not drink their water tonight, after a petroleum spill contaminated the Whitesburg water supply earlier this week.

After investigating, Division of Water officials have already cited the company responsible.

For Gloria Ramsey it is another trip to the Whitesburg Fire Department to pick up water.

“Very frustrating. I can't do my washing, I can't do anything unless I do it with the water that they give us,” she said.

Division of Water officials say they traced petroleum to a damaged storage tank on the Kentucky River earlier this week and issued a notice of violation to Don Childers of Childers Oil, Inc. who they say is responsible for the spill. His company was cited for a similar incident back in November.

“I think it's ridiculous that this fuel or whatever it is has gotten into the water system twice in the last, very short period of time,” said Lloyd Mullins of Mayking.

“It's very discouraging that this has happened twice in three months,” said Judge Executive Jim Ward. He says the county is considering legal action.

“It's not right for the county to bear the burden of what was done. We'll have to look at some kind of legal aspect of it,” he said.

In the meantime he says the latest test results from water samples taken Tuesday show water going into and out of the plant is clean, but water further out in the system is still contaminated and requires flushing. For now, it is waiting on the latest round of test results.

“If these test results are as we anticipate they will be, then it looks like we're nearing the very end of this thing,” said Whitesburg Mayor James Craft.

It is a hope he and others in the county is hold on to.

Don Childers was unavailable for comment this evening. If the next round of test results come back clear, the earliest the advisory will be lifted is Monday.

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